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Vj ^ THE CURRENT HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN AFRICA Y 4. IN 8/16: AF 8/10 The Current Hunan Rights Situation... HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MAY 22, 1996 u^ Printed for the of the Co5^Jpgfl|^T|g^f|fiRVF>flfffft{ajH|JE(||C NOV 2 7 1996 STONPyeilO LIBRARY U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1996 : ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice.Washington.DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-053531-X im CO \ CURRENT HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN AFRICA Y 4. IN 8/16; AF 8/10 The Current Hunan Rights Situation... HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MAY 22, 1996 Printed for the u.e of the Coa«ttM01»\'Tg^^Vpin^flf^^j|jjf j^fg NOV 2 7 1996 STONPUBUOUBeARV U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 26-601CC WASHINGTON : 1996 ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice.Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-053531-X COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BENJAMIN A. GILMAN. New York, Chairman WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania LEE H. HAMILTON, Indiana JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut TOBY ROTH, Wisconsin TOM LANTOS, California HENRYJ. HYDE, Illinois ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jereey DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska HOWARD L. BERMAN, California CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York DAN BURTON, Indiana HARRYJOHNSTON, Florida JAN MEYERS, Kansas ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American ELTON GALLEGLY, California Samoa ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey DANA ROHRABACHER, California ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey EDWARD R. ROYCE, California SHERROD BROWN, Ohio PETERT. KING, New York CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY, Georgia JAY KIM, California ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas ALBERT RUSSELL WYNN, Maryland DAVID FUNDERBURK, North Carolina JAMES P. MORAN, Virginia STEVENJ. CHABOT, Ohio VICTOR O. FRAZER, Virgin Islands (Ind.) MARSHALL "MARK" SANFORD, South CHARLIE ROSE, North Carolina Carolina PAT DANNER. Missouri MATT SALMON, Arizona AMO HOUGHTON, New York TOM CAMPBELL, California Richard J. Garon, ChiefofStaff Michael H. Van DUSEN, Minority ChiefofStaff Subcommittee on Africa ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairperson TOBY ROTH, Wisconsin GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas HARRY JOHNSTON, Florida STEVENJ. CHABOT, Ohio DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey MARSHALL "MARK" SANFORD, South ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida Carolina VICTOR O. FRAZIER, Virgin Islands MATT SALMON, Arizona AMO HOUGHTON, New York TOM CAMPBELL, California MauBICIO J. Tamargo, Subcommittee StaffDirector PhiUP Christenson, Deputy StaffDirector David Adams, Democratic Professional StaffMember (II) CONTENTS WITNESSES Page Hon. John Shattuck, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor 2 Mr. Thomas Lansner, InternationalAffairsAnalyst, Heritage Foundation 15 Mr. Gregory Simpkins, Deputy Regional Program Director for Africa, Inter- nationalRepublican Institute — 19 Mr. Joseph Eldridge, Director ofthe Washington, DC Office Lawyers Com- mittee forHuman Rights 22 APPENDIX Prepared statements: Hon.JohnShattuck 29 Mr. Thomas Lansner 52 Mr. GregorySimpkins 59 Mr. Joseph Eldridge 64 Othermaterial: Statement forthe recordbyHon. GaryAckerman 74 (HI) — THE CURRENT HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN AFRICA WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 1996 House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Africa, Committee on International Relations, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:50 p.m., in room 2255, Raybum House Office Building, Hon. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen [chairwoman ofthe subcommittee] presiding. Ms. Ros-Lehtenen. The committee will now come to order. We apologize for the lateness of our start, we had one vote that turned into three; that pesky democratic process keeps getting in the way ofour agenda. Thank you for your patience. And thanks to Harry for being here with us. And thank you, John, for waiting around. Africa, as all of us know, is a continent in transition; struggling to replace autocratic governments with democratic institutions; struggling to replace a past marred by civil strife with a future of stability and peace for all. We locus on reconciliation; on infrastructure development and democracy building; on economic growth and prosperity. However, none of this is possible without one pivotal element respect for human rights. It is a prerequisite to a truly free and open society; to a stable and equitaole form ofgovernment. Without this guarantee, not only can democracy not flourish, but the indi- vidual is also unable to develop. Personal growth is hindered. As the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said last week during his appearance before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, "Human rights are to always be respected by every- one." Thus, the protection of and respect for the basic natural rights of all people should transcend political, cultural, and economic views and interests. It is certain that U.S. foreign policy cannot be formulated in a vacuum and that other interests must be evaluated against human rights concerns. However, it is certainly difficult to reconcile in the face ofslavery, mass executions, genital mutilation, and other gross violations ofhuman rights taking place in the African continent. Furthermore, Africa presents another dilemma that is not unique, but is certainly more prevalent due to the size and number of countries involved. This is what has been termed by some ob- servers as "the knee-jerk revenge sentiment", which is the tempta- (1) tion to retaliate against former oppressors as a means of cleansing the country's wounds. How should this issue be addressed? Can a new government proceed in the process of democracy-building without first addressing the injustices of the past regimes? How can past atrocities be rec- tified without creating social upheaval and economic flight? How can a country come to terms with its past and build a civil society in a new democracy? — Once again, the essential element the foundati—on upon which the pillars of freedom, liberty a—nd democracy rest ^from which a stable and just society are built is respect for the rights endowed to all human beings by their Creator. This is at the core of our discussion today as we also address U.S. foreign policy priorities and initiatives designed to address human rights concerns. I would like to have Congressman Harry Johnston say Mr. Johnston. No, I don't have anything. Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Victor. Mr. Frazer. No. Ms. Ros-Lehte^en. I would like to introduce our first speaker who is patiently awaiting us, John Shattuck, Assistant Secretary ofState for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Secretary Shattuck has served as vice president at Harvard Uni- versity from 1984 to 1993, where he also taught human rights and civil liberties law at Harvard Law School. Previously, he was executive director of the Washington Office Civil Liberties Union, where he also served as National Counsel. Secretary Shattuck has held numerous other positions in the field of human rights advocacy. Among these as vice chair of the U.S. section ofAmnesty International, and as an executive committee member of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. He has been honored on numerous occasions for his dedication and con- tributions to civil liberties and human rights. We are pleased to have him join us and thankful that his travel plans changed to enable him to appear before us. STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN SHATTUCK, ASSISTANT SEC- RETARY FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR, DE- PARTMENT OF STATE Mr. Shattuck. Thank you very much Madam Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to appear here on a very important subject and before a subcommittee that has done very important work in the field of human rights. I was privileged to appear before you not too many months ago on the same set oftopics. I have a lengthy statement, Madam Chair. I would like with your leave to submit it for the record. Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Ofcourse, we will enter it in the record. Any- thing that precedes the word "lengthy" we always want to put it in the record. We want to make sure that you make them as brief as possible, John, thanks. Mr. Shattuck. I do have a statement that covers a great deal ofterritory orally and I would like to proceed with that. Africa is, as you yourself said, a continent of great diversity that resists any generalization. In recent years, some notable human rights successes have occurred in Africa as have some of the most horrendous human rights violations of our time. African leaders range from democratic heroes like President Mandela, to military strongmen like the authoritarian General Abacha ofNigeria. African Grovemments run the gamut from the successful new democracy of Namibia to the fratricidal warlords of Liberia. In short, we see in Africa the same fundamental trends at work elsewhere in the world, the same human rights problems and the same democratic possibilities. These widely varying circumstances have led us to develop a broad range of strategies, approaches and programs to promote democracy and respect for human rights in Africa. Let me mention just a few. First, we have pursued an active policy of direct, bilateral contacts with African Governments on a broad scope ofhuman rights concerns, from encouraging democratic transition to intervening on behalfofpolitical prisoners. We have used our annual Human Rights Reports to the Congress as a tool to monitor human rights situations in every country on the continent to highlight abuses and to recognize progress. We have developed a variety of assistance programs and mecha- nisms to support countries in transition to democracy. These in- clude both major AID programs and much smaller grants to governments and NGO's to promote human rights and build democ- racv. Through the expanded International Military Education and Training Program, we have launched programs to help African military leaders to understand the proper role ofa military in a democracy. We have provided assistance to build free labor unions which is a vital component to free societies in Africa. Multilaterally, we have helped establish U.N. human rights mon- itoring programs and contributed to U.N. programs in technical assistance in the field ofhuman rights. We helped establish and have provided continuing political and material support for the International War Crimes Tribunal in Rwanda. We have also supported African efforts to end human rights violations, including Organization of African Unity peacekeeping efforts. Where circumstances warrant, we have sponsored resolutions in the U.N. Human Rights Commission, critical of particular governments. We have imposed arms sales restrictions on countries where major human rights violations have occurred. In the most egregious cases, we have imposed a variety of sanc- tions to demonstrate our disapproval of regressive actions and repressive regimes. In addition to policies targeted specifically at human rights, we have engaged in active diplomacy toward peace on several of Afri- ca's internal conflicts which have been the source of some of the continent's most serious human rights violations. I would like to speak today botn about some of Africa's success stories and about some of the situations which concern us most. In Africa today there is growing respect for human rights and democratic values. More African states have democratic governments today than at any time since the early years of independence. Afri- cans have themselves insisted on ending military dictatorships and repressive one-party systems. They have freely chosen the path to democracy and improved ob- servance ofhuman rights. But, many ofthe new democracies ofAf- rica are fragile, beset by poverty, ethnic divisions, and the legacy of failed policies of authoritarian regimes of the past. Our goal has been to foster democratic systems and support states that have em- barked on democratic transitions. The heroic leadership of President Mandela and Mr. de Klerk has provided an example of courage in reconciliation that many around the world will want to emulate in the years to come. The recent disagreements regarding the final shape of the South Afri- can Constitution in no way diminishes the magnitude of this historic event. Elsewhere in Africa, democratic gains are being consolidated and reforms are steadily taking root. In Mali, the democratic progress of the historic 1992 elections continues, despite the severe poverty facing the country. In Malawi, the government maintained the commitment to democratic progress manifest in the 1994 elections. Benin is at this point a full-fledged constitutional democracy, which recently held its second Presidential election, resulting in a peaceful transition ofpower. Congo, despite the unrest that accompanied the early stages of its transition, now has fully functioning democratic institutions and has seen a concurrent decline in human rights violations. In Namibia, democratic institutions continue to take root. For example, its Parliament recently passed a law providing full legal equality for married women. And, in the face of severe difficulties, this year Sierra Leone held its first free, fair and open election. In each ofthese countries and in others, the United States vigor- ously supported progress through a combination of assistance programs, diplomatic efforts to sustain democratic momentum at cru- cial moments and active encouragement of grass-roots human rights and democracy activists. Despite this record of progress, severe human rights problems persist in many African countries, as they do in other countries. Broadly speaking, in Africa, as elsewhere around the world, we see two kinds of human rights abuse: violations by strong authoritarian government, and abuses arising from conflicts within states. Last week I returned from my third visit to Burundi. The situation there has entered a critical period. The spiral ofviolence is es- calating, while voices of moderation are being sidelined. In Bujumbura, I saw evidence of terror by both sides. I visited a hos- pital on the outskirts of the city that had been attacked by Hutu insurgents. Nearby, I visited a Hutu displaced persons camp attacked by Tutsi extremists. I also heard reports of military mas- sacres in outlying villages and assassinations by both sides ofmod- erate parliamentarians and local officials, including the brutal kill- ing ofthree women members ofParliament in recent weeks.